The Chargers' smallest player comes up with his biggest game

The Chargers' smallest player comes up with his biggest game
January 4 San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Tim Sullivan

"To appreciate the difficulty of tackling Darren Sproles in the open field, try grabbing a hummingbird with a pair of pliers.

Try herding cats from astride a donkey. Try catching a wave and then holding it in place.

Good luck with that.

LaDainian Tomlinson's backup running back is as elusive as a five-leaf clover, as slippery as a bar of soap borne by a greased pig. When Sproles had finished dodging the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night, and raced into the end zone to provide resolution to the Chargers' 23-17 overtime playoff victory, quarterback Philip Rivers was asked if he thought he could tackle Sproles if the two were confined to a broom closet.

"No," Rivers replied. "Or a phone booth. Neither one."


This was one of those evenings when hyperbole was almost indistinguishable from fact. A running back who is listed at 5-feet-6, and whose role has been largely confined to kick returns and change-of-pace appearances, rose up in his team's hour of need to a stature befitting Paul Bunyan.

With Tomlinson hobbled and eventually sidelined by a groin injury the Chargers have described in only the vaguest terms, Sproles came off the bench and into the lineup for 35 assorted touches and 328 miscellaneous yards.

The latter sum was the third-highest total of all-purpose yards in NFL playoff history; and second only to Keith Lincoln's 329 yards (1963 AFL Championship Game) among Chargers' postseason performances.

"When your number is called, you have got to be ready," Sproles said. "You just have to step up and help this team."

Sproles scored twice from scrimmage - a 9-yard go-ahead touchdown run just before halftime and the 22-yard scamper (great word, that) that propelled the Chargers into next week's divisional playoff game in either Nashville or Pittsburgh.

Mike Scifres also comes in for a special commendation for one of the most extraordinary punting performances on record, but as Chargers marketing Vice President Ken Derrett considered the consequences of Saturday night's victory, he assigned high priority to checking the Chargers' inventory of souvenir Sproles' jerseys.

No. 43 totaled 105 yards on 23 carries from scrimmage - the second straight week he had hit triple figures in a game he did not start - contributed another 178 yards on seven kick returns and produced another 45 yards on five pass receptions.

The last of these catches, a 13-yard swing pass on a third-and-11 situation in overtime, merely enabled the Chargers to retain possession on their winning drive.

He did enough - more than enough - to make you forget his third-quarter fumble at the Colts' 2-yard line. He did more than enough to make you wonder how the Chargers can even consider losing this guy to free agency at season's end.

"There is no disrespect in comparing him to this great, but he's like a Barry Sanders back," Chargers right tackle Jeromey Clary said. "He's all over the plaLink